07/19/2015 E-mail: Temple Blessings

Konnichiwa!

Sorry if this e-mail is super jumbled; I don't have much time!  

(This is Addy's answer to Dad's question about where their apartment is located):  
We live in a pretty busy area.  The church is in Fukuoka Yakuin 4 chome.  Our 
apartment is in ozasa; it's like a 15-min. bike ride from the church.

This week we had two really good lessons with Sayaka chan. She is
progressing well and says that when she prays she feels like God is
lifting her up. She turns 19 this week! We are working on getting
permission from her mom for her baptism, so please pray for that! She is going to
Disneyland this weekend in Tokyo, so she can't come to church. We haven't
taught sabbath day yet haha....

We had a YSA activity at the beach and we played beach volleyball and
I was in heaven! It was so much fun!!!

We found two really good investigators this week. One is Ide San, who
we will teach today! She is 23 years old and works at a nursing home.
We are so excited to start teaching her! We also are going to start
teaching Atsuko San. Her mom is a member and has a little interest, so
we are meeting her this week. I love teaching part-member families!

Yesterday at church I had a really cool experience. A lady from
Kiribati, a small island in the Pacific Ocean, came to church, so I
got to translate for her and befriend her, because she doesn't speak
any Japanese. We were talking about temples. The closest temple to her
is in Fiji, it takes a 4 hour plane ride to get there and it is
really expensive. She went on to tell me that because it is so
expensive, she usually goes and stays for 2 weeks. During those two
weeks she goes to the temple every single day that it is open and she
does every single session each day! So she is able to do like 30
sessions each time she goes. We started talking about blessings we
have received from going to the temple and I began to cry with her. I
will never take having a temple 30 minutes away for granted again!
There are such strong members all around the world who make huge
sacrifices to go and serve in the temple. I am so thankful that our
Mission is one of the only two in Japan with a temple. I'm so grateful
I was able to meet Denise yesterday at church.

This week, I read Doctrine and Covenants 135. My testimony of Joseph
Smith was strengthened so much! Also this month's Ensign has way good
articles about the Book of Mormon and the pioneers. I want to study
church history more when I get home from my mission. The faith and
hope of those early saints is so strong! I am so thankful for all they
went through for us!

I know this Church is true and I know the Book of Mormon is true.
Every single day when I read I learn something new, no matter how many
times I've read that part before. It really is the word of God.
Have a good week!
Love you!

Klein shimai